Dealing with Adversity: Part 1

Over the next several months, I would like to examine some of Charles Stanley's "30 Life Principles." Today, I would like to discuss Life Principle number 7: "The dark moments of our life will last only so long as is necessary for God to accomplish His purpose in us." 

I have heard it said by several mature Christians that when it comes to adversity and trials, you are in one of three places: you are entering a time of adversity, going through a trial, or coming out of a time of adversity. In my personal life, I am walking through a time of adversity. Back on October 4th, 2019, I was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis, a rare blood cancer. The day I received the call from my doctor and he told me the news, it was my 56th birthday (what a birthday present!). Since March of 2020, I have been receiving care and treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

If you want God's best for your life and desire to be used by Him, at some point you will have to travel the road of adversity. This means that God can and will use adversity in your life for a good purpose- and yet, sadly, many people view adversity as only negative and defeating. You don't have to be among them. When I first received the phone call that I had cancer, all these negative thoughts were racing through my mind. Was I going to die? How long do I have to live? How do I tell my family and friends? Should I tell my family and friends? I received the message at work and when I finished the call I went into shock, I was paralyzed, I couldn't move or say a word.

God has designed adversity, regardless of its source, to become a turning point from which you take your greatest leaps forward in spiritual growth. He allows adversity to remain in your life only until He accomplishes His purpose in you. He will not keep it in your life one second longer than is necessary.

During the summer of 2023, my cancer took a turn for the worse. After several trips in and out of the hospital and two rounds of chemotherapy, my doctor decided it was time for a bone marrow stem cell transplant. I spent three weeks in the hospital and received my transplant on November 3, 2023. A short time after the transplant, I reached my lowest point to date. I was physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. One night I cried out to God (literally), telling Him I couldn't go on, the pain and the suffering were way beyond what I could bear. I kept asking "Why me Lord?" I didn't see or understand the purpose of everything I was going through. Like Jonah, I asked or rather told God it would be better off if He would take my life. None of my pain and suffering made any sense to me. 

Having had time to meditate and reflect, being diagnosed and going through everything I have been through with my cancer, I can confidently and boldly say that the journey has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It has given me a new outlook on life and has given me a new and different perspective. There have been times when the trial has literally wiped me out and other times when the Lord has taught me to stand in the confidence of His faithfulness. I am overwhelmed with a sense of stability and immovable strength. It is a time of absolute certainty that God is going to see me through the heartache and bring me out whole, joyful, and more mature on the other side. Like the apostle Paul, He has said to me, " My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Adversity also shows us where we stand in our faith. Do we doubt God? Or do we thank Him for His faithfulness during the stressful, heart-wrenching times? Adversity is God's most accurate measure of our faith - it reveals our endurance level. None of us know how much difficulty we can withstand until we are in the midst of the trial. Right now, right where you are, remember this: God has put a limit on all adversity. Because you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit is living inside of you, and He knows how much you can bear. The psalmist said, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all." ( Psalm 34:19). When we learn and mature in the midst of tremendous adversity, God is pleased because He sees His purpose being fulfilled in us.

There are three principles we can learn when we face adversity. First, adversity is God's choice tool for building godly, spiritual character in our lives. Until we experience heartache, disappointment, and pain we are not properly equipped for service (see 2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Secondly, adversity usually comes in areas where we feel the most confident. He made us for a loving, intimate relationship and fellowship with Himself, and He uses adversity to remind us of the fact that we are dependent upon Him. Thirdly, God's ultimate design is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. Through adversity, God develops the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) in us. Adversity gets our attention, reveals our weaknesses and strengths, increases our distaste for sin, demonstrates His faithfulness, strengthens our faith, removes our pride and self-centeredness, prepares us for future service, and enables us to comfort others facing adversity.

Through adversity, God is molding you into a mature and effective servant. When you know Christ as your Savior, God sees you as a saint. Sometimes struggling, sometimes falling, but justified, redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled to Him. In July of 2024, MRI results showed that the cancer had spread to my back, specifically my T-4 vertebrae. I had surgery to place screws and rods in my spine. On December 30th, 2024, I will begin my third round of chemotherapy. Through my journey, God has proven Himself to be faithful. He is continually reminding me that we need a Savior. Someone greater than our greatest fear, someone who can meet all our needs. Only through His grace can we learn the truth concerning suffering. God uses it to help us experience His immense love. So take comfort. Adversity won't take up permanent residence in your life. Therefore no matter what dark moments you may walk through, be confident that He's going to bring you into the light. And when He does, it will certainly be worth it.

I would like to leave you with this quote from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon: "God knows that soldiers are to be made only in battle; they are not to be grown in peaceful times. We may grow the stuff of which soldiers are made; but warriors are really educated by the smell of powder, in the midst of whizzing bullets and roaring cannonades...Is He not developing in you the qualities of the soldier by throwing you into the heat of the battle and should you not use every application to come off conqueror?"

Resource:

Charles Stanley Life Principle Study Bible 

Here is the link to watch a video of Charles Stanley's sermon on Life Principle 7:

https://www.intouch.org/watch/sermons/life-principle-7-the-dark-moments-in-our-life